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Tampa resident Walker Kindell said he was outside The Brunchery on South MacDill Avenue on Sunday when he saw Tampa City Council candidate John Dingfelder ripping opponent Julie Brown’s signs from the ground and hiding them.
“I said to myself, ‘What’s he doing with Julie Brown’s signs?’ ” said Kindell, who said he doesn’t work with Brown’s campaign. “I saw him put them behind a tree. He was also hammering in his own signs. It was bizarre. I wish I had taken a picture.”
Dingfelder, an incumbent, was on MacDill that morning, but he said he didn’t hide anything. He said some of his signs were knocked down during Gasparilla and that he was replacing them when he saw a Brown sign on the ground as well.
“Julie’s sign was on the ground getting run over,” Dingfelder said. “I stuck it back in the ground so it wasn’t laying flat. If [Kindell ] wants to call that hiding it, that’s fine.”
Dingfelder called Brown on Monday to tell her he was innocent, but Brown said her campaign found two of her signs in bushes near The Brunchery.
“I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what type of credence to give it,” Brown said of Dingfelder’s story.
Dingfelder is facing Brown and Joseph V. Citro for a District 4 council seat. District 4 includes Harbour Island and most of south Tampa.
Election Day is March 6.
Josh Poltilove
Sounds like Mr. Dingfelder was caught ripping up opponents signs. This type of behavior is bizarre, paranoid. For God’s sake, it’s only City Council—but it is still an official election. That is not only wrong, but probably against the law. Think how wierd he’d be if he’d been elected to the County Commissioner.
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Posted by John Starnes Jr., Sun Bay South on 02/11 at 10:01 PM
Some folks run for office to meet ego needs vs.providing genuine public service. From what I have seen as a resident of Sun Bay South and a two term VP of the Gandy Civic Association deeply disheartened by the discrepancy of Mr. Dingfelder telling our meetings WHILE HE WAS RUNNING FOR OFFICE that he was against the high density developments he voted FOR despite months of work by our members to scale them back, pulling up and hiding signs belonging to his opponent would not surprise me and would be in the same vein as his Shakesperean posturing for City Council cameras during zoning variances our members attended. Of course, he voted against the wishes of Sun Bay South time and time again. Let’s see…ego or public service…..hmmmm.